Beth Israel Center - Madison, WI

Today we traveled to the Beth Israel Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Before today, I had never been in a Jewish synagogue. I found it very interesting and it helped me to understand a little bit more about the Jewish religion. I definitely felt welcomed which I find as a sign of religious tolerance/cooperation. Beth and our other tour guide (I know she was a Rabbi, but I can't remember her name. Rebecca?) were very knowledgeable and willing to share information, life stories, and answer questions. I had a good impression from the beginning, and came away with a better understanding of the religion. I thought that the synagogue would have been decorated a little bit more than it was. It was very simple and there weren't a lot of colors, except for the curtains which covered the Torah scrolls. Even though there wasn't a lot of decoration or color, the little bit that was there drew my eyes right to the most important part of their worship space - the Torah scrolls.

One thing I learned a lot about is the idea of kosher - what it is and how they observe it. Being kosher originally stemmed from just one line in the Torah. This line says "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." This line has been interpreted and built upon until now where it means to separate meat and dairy. Jewish people do not eat meat and dairy at the same meal. They also use separate dishes to cook it in as well as separate serving dishes, utinsels, and silverware. At the synagogue, they had separate stoves, refrigerators, freezers, and ovens in addition to the items listed above. Beth told us about how she and her family choose food in non-kosher restaurants and even in kosher restaurants as well as buying items at a grocery store. I had noticed the "u" with a circle around it before, but I didn't know that it was a symbol for an item being kosher. I found that very interesting. I also found it very interesting that chicken was considered meat, but fish was not.

I also learned that they don't have pictures of God because they believe no one knows what he looks like, which is true in Christianity as well. Even though we don't have pictures of God, we do have pictures of Jesus as well as pictures of saints and martyrs. The few pictures that they had in the synagogue were representations of the Tweleve Tribes of Israel, which I found fascinating. To go along with learning about the actual synagogue building, I learned that all synagogues need to have natural light and need to be oriented toward Israel. On the Sabbath, prayers are done toward Israel (which is facing away from the congregation in this particular synagogue) and reading from the Torah is done toward the people (away from Israel). Beth told us that their services on the Sabbath last about 2.5 or 3 hours each week. Students also come other times during the week to learn about the Jewish faith, learn Hebrew and to prepare for their bar or bat mitzvah.

I found the mourning process interesting as well. They go through several "steps" during their mourning process. There are "milestones" at 7 days, 30 days, and 11 months after the date of death. For the first 7 days, the family typically comes to the synagogue everyday and says a special prayer. They might also sit on low benches in their houses while not wearing shoes. After the 7 days, the family goes out and walks around the neighborhood as if to announce that they have finished their 7 days of mourning. They then begin to return to their normal lives, however, for 30 days, the family wears a torn ribbon. There's another tradition that is done for 11 months. On the 1 year anniversary of the death as well as all following anniversaries, the family may come to the synagogue and say the prayer of mourning. The dead may also be remembered with plaques that are hung on the wall of the synagogue. Each plaque has a light next to it which is lit during the week of the person's death anniversary.

Photos from the day courtesy of Kay Paul